The Guard Assists
by symbiotic
Summary: Hinata transfers from one college to University of Konoha. There she rooms with an up and coming journalist, gets close to the University's basketball leader, point guard Naruto Uzumaki, and find out what she is meant to do. NaruHina may increase rating


Prologue

* * *

This place looks just like a castle, not like some art deco buildings arranged in the fashion of a work camp. I like it, I like it a lot. Secretly it's one of the many reasons that I opted to transfer over to this place. My father can never know that but my cousin Neji knows. He's the only one who knows all the reasons why I'm transferring from one university to the next. He was the one who suggested I come here.

Fire Country State didn't seem to really work out for me too well. There were a multitude of reasons that were both practical, educational, and some of my own personal choice. Practically it was too far away for my liking, it was a six hour drive across the country to get there and back, or a two hour plane ride that cost more then it seemed to be worth. The place was also out near the sea, a sea that during typhoon season often has massive tidal waves and flooding throughout the area. Practically I didn't tell my father this, but I also hate the sea breeze a lot. Some people could like Fire Country State for being by the sea, but I was not one of those to a nasty hydrophobia that I have difficulty overcoming Even if it wasn't flooding or there were no tsunamis, I was always having nightmares about ones happening right next to the university and being swept away never to be seen again. It seemed natural for me to want to leave the place for it being close to the sea. Neji understood that, but my father did not.

The educational programs were something my father could understand. He was not a professor or a teacher type, he was a businessman. My father hardly knew a thing about lesson plans and a curriculum for a program. He didn't know how to tell when a professor was really a teaching assistant working to get their degree in a class that they're being asked to teach and not really certified for. He didn't know that despite the faculty numbers the students were stilled crammed into over sized classrooms and the teaching assistants teaching us were clearly overstretched. He didn't really know anything about it at all. All he knew was that I felt it was not a good place to learn and that his money was being wasted on a program that was not teaching me the sufficient skills I needed to continue in the practice he had laid down for me to (hopefully) take over. I was not personally into the whole business of financial securities and asset management like my father was. So getting out of Fire Country State helped me get away from all the business classes for a bit, and while I will have to continue taking some business classes now I do have a bit more freedom then I did.

Finally there are just some of reasons that I can never totally express to my father for fear that he will disown me. Fact is that if I told him most of this stuff, he would never ever let me live it down. I did tell him that I was bullied a lot and was often afraid of speaking up in classes. I told him that my professors had called me stupid and my roommate made me sleep outside until the head of our dorm ring made her take me back in. But he wonders why I'm so shy, and I kind of gave him part of it. I was halfway taken advantage of at Fire Country State by a male classmate and his girlfriend. I couldn't even work up the courage to tell him until after I had left the school on a break, fearing some kind of repercussions in some form or another. But when a male classmate starts feeling you up at the end of each class just so he can give you the answers on tests, it's not worth it. Every other college girl seems to do be able to do it and enjoy it but me. I thought I could pull it off, but I can't. Just goes to show how spineless I am.

I probably should have followed my Aunt's advice and just gone into a convent. Even if she was a zealot catholic trying to be serious to me, it didn't seem to be a bad idea considering away I'd be away from society and on my own, praying and being quiet most of the time and doing occasional service. That was a good life for me, but I chose to forgo that in favor of something else. Something about that life did not appeal to me, probably the attire or need to commit to a god that I'm not quite willing to completely believe in just yet. Maybe it was the fact that I'm completely into satanic music and just love come cold hard Scandinavian black metal most of the time. That would certainly turn more then my fair share of nuns and priests off from me. I would probably never even set foot in a convent without getting an exorcism. But that's all in the past now.

I'm going to be a student at University of Konoha, the top private school in the country, with my cousin Neji.

We pulled up to the front in Dad's black Porsche Cayenne and stepped out with all the other kids getting out of their cars. Parents are saying goodbye to their children and unpacking their bags. There are tears on their faces alongside sighs of relief, knowing that their children are heading out of their hands for good in most cases. They are hopeful of success and fearful of failure as Neji puts it. I can see that pretty easily. My father has just a face of stone. I hope under it all he's the same way as they are, but I doubt it. He was never that kind of type. All he seemed to be caring about right now was finding a spot to parallel park in, which he did. Once he did, he got out of the car and helped Neji and I start to unpack our bags. Neji carried most of mine, I only carried one bag with my clothes and my backpack. I wasn't strong enough to carry them all, and my dad didn't want to stick around.

"Look after her Neji," my father ordered. "Don't let her get in trouble."

"Yes Uncle," Neji said unemotionally. I sighed. This seemed like a bad move already. "Come on Hinata." I looked back at my dad, who was already getting in the car before he said a quick goodbye to me. I could barely hear it over all the commotion and after a little bit Neji just dragged me on. From that point on I didn't see the black Cayenne anymore, or even get to hear my sister Hanabi say good bye. I didn't find it fair, but Neji was intent on getting me out of his hands as quickly as possible.

"Alright lets see you're in the girls side of Yondaime Hall," he said, looking at my paper. "I'll take you over there and see if I can get you set up." He then began to move and I had to keep up with him as best as I could, which wasn't easy. Neji wasn't the fastest person I knew but if he wanted to move at breakneck pace for me he could. He was that kind of cousin, trying to push me to my limits. I hated him for that, yet kind of loved him for it because when I was able to keep up with him I could say I was strong. This time though it wasn't working so well. The bags were weighing me down but they weren't weighing Neji down very much as he moved briskly between buildings and weaved in and out of students. Sweet, I can't keep up and he's not slowing down. Thankfully I didn't loose sight of him as we went inside the dorm room and he walked me through the halls, up the stairs, and left my stuff in front of one dorm numbered "78". "Here it is Hinata."

"Thanks Neji." I replied back. "I'll see you around I guess?"

"Call me if you need anything." He then ruffled my hair gently and made me life. "Welcome to UOK. Are you okay?" I giggled a bit and then he knocked on the door of the dorm for me

"Yeah," I said with a smile. "I am okay." He then smiled himself a little and walked away, leaving me alone against the door. It opened up and then I fell over, flat on my ass and looking up at the person I was going to spend probably the rest of my collegiate life with, my roommate.


End file.
